3: What are the Recognized Writings & Trustworthy Translations?

Much of what I’ve spent time seeking to learn wasn’t because I wrote a list of questions that I just had to have the answer to and started knocking them out one by one - although that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Instead, I was driven to find the answers when I was challenged by another person who had a differing view.

For example, it wasn’t until I talked with some Jehovah’s Witnesses who said Jesus wasn’t God and the Trinity wasn’t true, that I began to seek WHY I BELIEVED that Jesus WAS God and the Trinity WAS true…but I couldn't explain WHY. What if my parents, pastor, & church were WRONG? What if the Jehovah’s Witnesses were RIGHT?

That QUESTION sparked my hunger to learn WHY I believe WHAT I believe. I was open to being corrected, but it was going to have to be convinced through the Scriptures. So I began to spend some serious time reading through the Gospel of John & other Scriptures.

I think that will happen in your life too.

A family member says he/she doesn’t believe in a place of eternal punishment for those who reject Jesus. You do…but you don’t know WHY…the spark is lit and you dig in to learn WHY you believe WHAT you believe.

A friend tells you that God is fine with sex outside of marriage - heterosexual & homosexual…you disagree, but other than agreeing with your parents, your pastor, or other influences in your life…YOU DON’T KNOW WHY. A hunger begins to develop in you - to learn WHY you believe WHAT you believe.

And here's why that is SO IMPORTANT. You see, the greatest critic you will ever face…IS YOU. As Josh McDowell often says, “The heart cannot rejoice in what the mind rejects.”

THAT’S why we are taking the time to tackle these issues.

Week 1 we asked and answered “Why should we trust the Word of God?”

Answer: We are disciples of Jesus and...

Jesus taught His disciples to trust the WORD of GOD…which are KNOWN through the Scriptures.

Last week we asked Is what we have now, what they wrote then?

SHOW DAN WALLACE VIDEO & Slide (just for MCI)

“No essential Christian belief is jeopardized by any viable variant.”- Dr. Dan Wallace

We demonstrated that We have GOOD EVIDENCE that the WORD of GOD has been PRESERVED

Today we ask the next question:

What are the Recognized Writings & Trustworthy Translations?

How did we get the 66 recognized writings in the Bible today and what about the other writings that got left out?

How are English Bible translations developed, what are the differences between them, and which translations are trustworthy?

RECOGNIZED WRITINGS Canon

These Recognized Writings are also known as the Canon. We aren’t talking about a long steel tube we fire cannon balls from.

Definition of CANON: Canon is the term for the collection of writings we recognize as the Old & New Testament.

Canon is derived from the Greek kanon, which originally referred to a reed that was used to test for straightness or length. By the 4th century, canon evolved to mean “standard”, “rule”, or “norm”, the common word to describe the collection of writings we recognize as the Old and New Testament.

Old Testament Canon

The Old Testament canon was recognized by the people of Jesus’ day. There were 24 recognized writings combining all the 1st and 2nd - e.g. 1 & 2 Kings & Ezra-Nehemiah) referred to as the Law, Prophets, & the Writings

Hebrew: TaNaKh =

Torah (Hebrew for Teaching),

Nevi’im (Prophets), &

Ketuvim (Writings).

As mentioned in a previous teaching, Jesus quotes almost all of these writings as authoritative.

On the other hand, there were other writings known to the Jewish people that you might have heard called the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonical ‘second cannon’ - Catholics). These writings contain some strange stories and good Jewish history,

yet Jewish people didn’t consider these writings to be Scriptural. Although Jesus & his disciples quoted from the Old Testament extensively, they never quoted these writings as authoritative words from God.

New Testament Canon

Now what about the New Testament? How did those 27 separate writings get compiled and what about the other writings that didn’t make the cut - you know - the “lost books of the Bible” mentioned by the Discovery Channel and other critics.

As we have discussed the NT hand-written 1st century manuscripts were being copied & distributed around the known world as separate writings. We have no evidence that the 27 separate New Testament writings put together in book form by the end of the 1st century. Without an approved canonical list, different churches valued certain Gospels and Epistles over others.

Marcion’s Canon

Then along came a heretic named Marcion who by A.D. 140 had

listed 11 of our 27 NT writings as trustworthy - kind of. You see, Marcion believed the God of the Old Testament & the God of the New Testament were not the same.

The Jewish God - from his perspective - was manipulative, angry, fickle, & cruel while the God of the New Testament was the God of love.

Because of this presupposition, Marcion rejected the Old Testament writings that he claimed had been corrupted by Jewish scribes.

He recognized 11 of the New Testament writings including the Gospel of Luke & 10 of Paul’s writings (total of 11).

Marcion excluded Matthew, Mark, & John because of their Jewish flavor & affirmations. And although he kept Luke since it was written for Gentiles, but he mutilated much of it.

Luke: Marcion didn’t believe Jesus was human and certainly wasn’t born as a human Jewish child so he removed all references to Jesus’ birth, genealogy, or Jewishness, which he attributed to manipulating editors (i.e. Jewish scribes).

Paul: He clipped out much of the Jewish flavor of Paul’s writings as well, contending that Jews had corrupted some of what Paul had written.

Need for a New Testament Canon

Marcion’s canon sounded an alarm for the young Church. Without a clear canon of recognized writings, future heretical claims to go unchecked. Marcion’s list required a response.

The writings were officially Collected because false teaching needed to be officially Corrected. Further, as the Roman Empire began to persecute Christians, they had to know which teachings they were willing to die for.

A gradual consensus began to develop among orthodox Christians, and by the end of the second century the core of the New Testament canon was established with the recognition of the four Gospels, Acts, and the thirteen letters from Paul (not including Hebrews that some think was written by Paul).

For example, the Muratorian Fragment (A.D. 170-180) comes from this time period, containing 22 of the 27 NT writings we recognize today. The list includes the 4 Gospels, Acts, the 13 writings of Paul, 1&2 John, Jude, & Revelation. These believers were aware of other writings as well. Listen to this quote from the fragment.

There are also in circulation one to the Laodiceans, and another to the Alexandrians, forged under the name of Paul, and addressed against the heresy of Marcion; and there are also several others which cannot be received into the Catholic Church, for it is not suitable for gall to be mingled with honey.

How could one tell the difference?

Criteria for Canonized Writings

Authors - Apostles & Associates? Who wrote it? It must have been an apostle (i.e. Matthew, John, Peter, & Paul) or someone closely connected with an apostle (e.g. Luke, John Mark, James, Jude). Eyewitness testimony is essential to authenticate the incredible claims made by Jesus and his followers in the New Testament.

Content - Orthodox Teaching? The church was to trust the Gospel as taught by the apostles of Jesus, and oppose the teachers & teachings trying to worm they way into the church and teaching something different.

Galatians 1:6–9 (NET)

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel—not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ.

[v8-9] But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!

That’s a HEAVY HANDED response, isn’t it?

Church Response - Universal Acceptance? The writing had to be “accepted by a broad geographic segment of the church.” Considering the cultural diversities within the churches, their agreement of which books belonged in the New Testament canon demonstrates that the Holy Spirit led people from different cultures to recognize the same writings as Scripture.

What about “the Lost Books of the Bible”? Here’s one example:

Gospel of Thomas

MANY WRITINGS FAILED this test, including the Gospel of Thomas.

Eusebius (A.D. 260-340) called this a heretical writing. Why? It didn’t meet ANY of the 3 criteria for canonical Scriptures.

Apostles or Associates? NOPE. It wasn’t written until well after the apostles lived - mid-2nd century.

Does it have Orthodox Teaching? NOPE.

The Gospel of Thomas records the following conversation between Peter and Jesus:

"Simon Peter said to them, `Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life.' Jesus said, `Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the domain of Heaven.

Does that sound like Jesus of the Gospels? NO WAY!

Does it have Universal Acceptance of the Church? NOPE. Down for the count.

Using this criteria, church leaders around the world were able to recognize the 27 NT writings we have today. Hence, these writings weren’t determined by the church, but discovered by the church.

J.I. Packer says it well:

The Church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity. God gave us gravity, by His work of creation, and similarly He gave us the New Testament canon, by inspiring the individual books that make it up.

I gave you more of the New Testament Canon being recognized over other writings.

TRUSTWORTHY TRANSLATIONS

How are English Bible translations developed & what are the differences that matter?

When we say Translation we are talking about the the biblical writings transferred from in their original languages into other languages so the audience can understand it.

Translations of the Bible are nothing new.

The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (OT) that was completed by 200 B.C., well before the time of Jesus.

This translation was quoted by the New Testament writers including the apostles of Jesus, Paul, & the writer of Hebrews.

Key Insight: The New Testament writers believed this Greek translation carried the same authority as the Hebrew writings it was translated from.

A few years ago I was at an event where a representative for a Bible program I use said, “With this software you can read the actual words of Jesus in the original language.” I thought about that statement and realized it wasn’t accurate...and here’s why:

Most of the 4 gospels are actually Translations of what Jesus said. That is, Jesus most often spoke in the common language of Jewish people in His day - Aramaic, but the gospel writers translated what Jesus said...in Greek. Here are a few examples that demonstrate this to be so:

Mark 5:41 (NET)

Then, gently taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up.”

Mark notes the words of Jesus in Aramaic, then he translates to his audience reading this in Greek. YOUR translation takes the Greek and brings it to our language - English.

Mark does the same thing later as Jesus is on the cross.

Mark 15:34 (NET)

Around three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

In other words, the writings we have are already a TRANSLATION of what Jesus said - Aramaic to Greek. We then translate from Greek to English.

Why would the gospel writers translate the words of Jesus from Aramaic into Greek...OR, asked another way...What’s the point of translations?

BIG TRUTH: Translations make the ancient message meaningful for today.

From the Greek manuscripts came more translations, like Latin, Coptic, Syriac, and more - so that more people could understand the message of Jesus in a meaningful way.

Dr. Miriam Adeney writes: “Everywhere Christians go, they translate the Bible. This has been noted by Lamin Sanneh, a Christian with a Muslim background who is Professor of History at Yale University. Muslims insist that people learn Arabic, because that is the language of God. But Christians say, "God speaks your language."

Wycliff Bible Translators note that the Bible has now been translated into more than 2,200 languages...for ONE reason:

BIG TRUTH: Translations make the ancient message meaningful for today.

So just How are English Bible translations developed & what are the differences that matter?

First, let’s give some clarity on HOW THE BIBLE IS DIVIDED.

Our Bible is divided by TYPES of writings, not by TIME:

OLD TESTAMENT

Law/Teaching: Genesis, Exodus, Lev., Numbers, Deut.

History of Israel: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Sam, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chron., Ezra, Neh., Esther

Writings: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon

Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obad., Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Hab., Zeph, Haggai, Zech, Malachi

NEW TESTAMENT

Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Church History: Acts

Letters (Epistles): Paul’s 13, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter; 1,2,3 John, Jude

Apocalyptic (literary genre that foretells supernaturally inspired cataclysmic events that will transpire at the end of the world): Revelation

Chapter and Verse Division

The current division of chapters and verses were introduced in 1551 in Greek and Latin NT. These were first used in an English translation in Geneva Bible of 1560.

There are 2 warnings here that we will discuss in depth when we deal with Interpretation in a couple of weeks.

Verses weren’t intended to be taken separately. Lifting text from its surrounding text usually blurs the context.

Beware those who make mathematical calculations based on Chapter and Verse numbers. This numbering system was NOT INSPIRED by God and didn’t exist until 1500 years after the NT was written!

HOW WERE ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS DEVELOPED & WHAT DIFFERENCES MATTER?

Around A.D. 400 an early church leader named Jerome translated the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic into Latin - the official language of the Roman Empire. This translation - The Latin Vulgate - was used over 1000 years in the British isles.

But in 1380, John Wycliffe translated the Bible from the Latin Vulgate (instead of original languages) to English. For this he was persecuted and considered a heretic.

Years after dying of natural causes, Wycliffe was officially condemned as a heretic by the Council of Constance in 1414.

In 1428 his bones were exhumed and burned as a heretic, at the order of Pope Martin V (1368–1431). [F1]

He wanted to make the message meaningful for the people of his day.

Wycliffe’s translation dominated the English-speaking world for 200 years.

Then came William Tyndale: He wanted to translate from the original languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek - to English. Eventually, with the help of others, this was accomplished in 1535. His desire was for the everyday farmer to know the Bible better than most scholars.

For this, he was imprisoned and executed in Oct 1536 - tied to a stake, strangled, and body burnt...ALL BECAUSE...as those who had gone before him...

He wanted to make the message meaningful for the people of his day.

Several other English translations like the Geneva Bible arose as their authors faced persecution as well.

Finally, in 1604 King James I made it official. The Church of England would have an English translation - King James authorized multiple university scholars to do the work. In 1611 this translation was completed and called The KJV or the Authorized Version (by King Jimmy). This is where we need to take a minute to explain how a lot of people get tripped up.

Just as others have done in history, we can think OUR VERSION is the best version and not allow for further translations. Some who love the 1611 KJV claim that it is inerrant - without error. This is NOT true. While it is a great translation it certainly isn’t perfect. (Read more below.)

______________________________

The translators used the Greek text (1516) of a Catholic scholar named Erasmus. He used portions of only 8 late manuscripts (11-14 century) of the NT. Since that time, many earlier and more reliable manuscripts have been uncovered and are used for translating.

The 1611 KJV version included the Apocrypha and had several mistakes. For example, “In 1611, the KJV had “Then cometh Judas” in Matthew 26:36. Today it is rendered in the KJV as, “Then cometh Jesus.”

The 1613 printing omitted the word “not” from the seventh commandment, & read “Thou SHALT commit adultery.” This King James edition became known as the “Wicked Bible.”

In fact, since 1611 there have been many revisions of the KJV: 1613, 1629, 1638, 1729, 1762. But the 1769 is the edition that is still in use today. If you use the KJV - a fine translation - then you most likely have THIS edition. Why not stick with the 1611? Because language changes over 158 years!

______________________________

The KJV translators never intended for this to be the last English version, that we would have to read Shakespearean English when we no longer spoke that way in daily conversation. Look what they wrote in the Preface to the 1611 King James Bible:

...without a translation in the common language, most people are like the children at Jacob’s well (which was deep) without a bucket or something to draw the water with; or like the person mentioned by Isaiah who was given a sealed book and told, “Please read this,” and had to answer, “I can not, because it is sealed” (Isaiah 29.11).

In other words, the KJV translators understood that...

BIG TRUTH: Translations make the ancient message meaningful for today.

In order to OBEY it, we must UNDERSTAND it.

Today’s modern translations don’t start with the KJV and change the words to modern terms. The translators start with EARLIER manuscripts - unknown by the KJV translators - and go straight from the manuscripts - Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek - STRAIGHT TO English.

Preface to the 1611 King James Bible:

As the King’s speech, which he uttereth in Parliament, being translated into French, Dutch, Italian, and Latin, is still the King’s speech, though it be not interpreted by every Translator with the like grace, nor peradventure so fitly for phrase, nor so expressly for sense, everywhere.

Therefore as S. Augustine saith, that variety of Translations is profitable for the finding out of the sense of the Scriptures.

Differences in Translations? (Dan Wallace: https://bit.ly/WallaceTranslations)

Formal Equivalent - Word for Word; studying languages (NET, ESV, NAS, KJV, NKJV, AMP)

Functional Equivalent - Thought for Thought (CSB, NIV, NLT, NCV, GW)

Paraphrase: The Message; The Living Bible (*use with caution)

Corrupt: New World Translation (Jehovah Witness), KJV from Mormons (multiple notes from Joseph Smith), The Passion ‘Translation’

Maybe you’ve heard that the NIV and other Modern Translations are CORRUPT? I see this kind of Screen Shot every now and then on Facebook, saying “The NIV took this verse out.”

Here’s something I wrote on that: https://bit.ly/KJVvsModern

Here’s a brief response to the article:

First, ‘Jehovah, Calvary, & Holy Ghost’ are not ‘removed', but are rendered (translated) better.

Contrary to JWs, Jehovah is not ‘God’s name’ in Hebrew. There is NO ‘J’ in Hebrew. The Hebrew is YHWH (typically called ‘Yahweh’). There is no Greek word for Jehovah either. Most contemporary translations use small caps ‘LORD’ to translate YHWH from Hebrew to English. As there were no vowels in Hebrew writing and the term ‘YHWH’ was rarely spoken, many scholars suppose YaHWeH is the likely translation. Jewish people began to use ‘Adon’ (‘Lord’) to replace YHWH as not to misuse His Name. In the New Testament, the Greek ‘kurios’ (“Lord’) is used when quoting Old Testament passages where YHWH is used.

Calvary is a Latin term, so none of the writers used this term. They used Greek referring to ‘Golgatha'.

Holy Ghost is better translated ‘Holy Spirit’ from the Greek, but either is valid.

The claim that NIV has ‘removed 45 complete verses’ is not valid - unless you think the NIV translators started with the KJV and then just changed the language to be more contemporary. Instead, the translators used older manuscripts (copies) of the New Testament than the KJV translators had in 1611 (when the KJV was completed). I am willing to deal with each verse, but that’s a quick comment on this. Typically, people use these kinds of things to try to point to the KJV as being the only translation we should use and that is not so.

If you grew up reading the KJV, don’t stop. Just realize it isn’t the best translation as it isn’t based on the early manuscripts AND some of the language is OLD ENGLISH.

I would also encourage you to read from a MODERN TRANSLATION. WHY?

WHY CHOOSE MODERN OVER KJV?

Modern translations make the ancient message meaningful for today.

2 Examples of KJV compared to MODERN TRANSLATIONS.

Isaiah 14:12 (KJV) How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Isaiah 14:12 (NIV) How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

The KJV translators borrowed this term - Lucifer - from the Latin Vulgate. Lucifer is Latin for "morning star” or “day star”. They didn’t translate it to English! * Note: This is the ONLY place in the KJV Bible that uses ‘Lucifer’.

The question is not how the NIV, ESV, NET, or NLT compares to the KJV, but how the KJV and THE OTHER TRANSLATIONS compare to the oldest & most reliable manuscripts in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

1 John 3:17 (KJV) But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

1 John 3:17 (ESV) But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?

Which one, to borrow a phrase from the KJV translators, is ‘a translation in the common language’?

Which one makes the ancient message meaningful for today?

What’s the best translation? I encourage you to choose from a ‘word-for word’ AND a ‘thought-for-thought’.

Beyond that...The best translation is the one you READ and HEED.

If your translation CONFUSES you instead making things CLEARER for you, ask a mature Christian to help you find a good translation of the Bible, because...

BIG TRUTH: Translations make the ancient message meaningful for today.

FEET2FAITH

Read it. Write it. Share it. Live it.

NEXT WEEK we answer the next question: “How Do We READ it RIGHT?”

______________

Brian L. Hanson, “Wycliffe, John,” ed. Michael A. G. Haykin, The Essential Lexham Dictionary of Church History (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022).

Discussion Questions

What challenged or encouraged you most from today’s teaching? Look back in your notes to help explain your answer.

What does CANON refer to and why were some writings included while others were not? Spend some time talking about the significance of the 3 criteria for canonical writings. In other words, why does that really matter?

Read Galatians 1:6-9. What is Paul concerned/frustrated about and why does this matter so much to him? What should it matter to us? What are some examples of how a person might distort or be turned to ‘a different gospel’ (v.6)?

How did learning about how the New Testament canon was recognized help you or lead to more questions?

How significant was it to recognize that Jesus’ disciples translated what He said and did into another language? Why do you think that is and what should it say about God’s view of translations from the original language? Remember the quote from Miriam Adeney? “God speaks ____________ ___________” (fill in the spaces) - what do you think about that?

Remember our FEET2FAITH steps? Read it. Write it. Share it. Live it. What have you been reading? Share your insights or questions. How have you LIVED OUT what you read this past week?

Share prayer needs and pray for one another.